


just mistakes

by bertee



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Hostage Situations, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Robbery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-09
Updated: 2013-04-09
Packaged: 2018-05-15 17:40:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5793820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bertee/pseuds/bertee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Jared is the ringleader of a gang of thieves and Jensen is in the wrong place at the wrong time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	just mistakes

"Ladies and gentleman," Jared called, "this is a robbery."

Frightened murmurs rose up from the people huddled against the wall but Jared was careful to keep his gun pointed at the ceiling rather than any of the party-goers as he said, "Now don't worry. We're not going to hurt anybody. We just need to borrow some items from this fine establishment and then we'll let you be on your way."

He glanced around to check the rest of his team was in position. Osric was standing guard by the door and Misha was keeping watch over the guests, and while there was no sign of Danneel and Mark, he figured it was safe to assume they were still sweeping the building for any strays.

It was a relatively small event, especially by Stuart's standards, just a gathering of rich patrons in a gallery to admire some new pieces and to view Stuart's latest jewelry acquisitions. It was the latter which Jared was after that evening but he couldn't help but admire some of the paintings as he paced up and down the line of guests. 

To his right, a young guy was clinging to his date. He flinched when Jared stopped in front of them and started begging before Jared could even open his mouth, "Please don't-"

"Relax, kid," Jared said, smiling behind his mask when he noticed the way the guy's hand didn't stray from his pocket. "You just sit right there and do what we say and you'll get chance to use that another time."

His girlfriend looked at him, confused, but the guy seemed to relax a little as he withdrew his hand, smoothing down his slacks over the outline of the ring in his pocket. It could be worse, Jared figured. At least he hadn't proposed already.

"November." 

Jared looked up at the sound of his codename to see Danneel leaning against the doorjamb. "We're all clear."

Nodding, Jared turned back to the people sitting against the wall. Most of them were guests, Stuart's business colleagues and wealthy contacts, but the staff were easy enough to pick out from their neat uniforms. "Okay," he said, loud and confident, "you're all going to stay here nice and quiet with your backs to the wall. Understood?"

He got his answer in the form of nervous nods. Pacing down the line of people, he came to a stop in front of a pretty brunette wearing a fitted burgundy vest which marked her out as staff. "I'm guessing you work for Mr Stuart?"

The brunette swallowed hard. "Y-Yes." She didn't take her eyes off Jared's gun. "Don't-"

"We're not gonna hurt you," Jared promised, reaching down to grab her arm and haul her to her feet. "We just need your input downstairs." She was short, at least a foot smaller than him, and as much as Jared disliked scaring people more than necessary, he had to admit that his height was useful. (Even if it did make him feel like a particularly dickish bouncer sometimes.) "Right this way, sweetheart."

Leaving Misha and Osric to watch over the hushed crowd, Jared led the woman through to where Danneel and Mark were waiting. Aside from the occasional whimper, she was near silent as they moved away from the main rooms of the gallery but Jared only let go of her arm once they were out of earshot.

Gen promptly rounded on him with a glare. "You think maybe you could walk a little slower next time? Some of us are wearing heels."

"Hey, I'm just playing my part," Jared said with a grin. "I don't think a hardened criminal is supposed to care whether a hostage has tiny little legs or not."

"Tiny little legs?" She raised her eyebrows, offended, but couldn't keep the amusement off her face when she muttered, "I'm gonna kick your ass."

Jared knew from experience that she wasn't lying.

"You think we could concentrate on the actual job?" Danneel cut in, lockpicks already in hand. "Ideally before the cops get here."

"Lead the way," Jared said, following her towards the door down to the storage room and asking Gen, "You know the code, right?"

Gen rolled his eyes. "What is this, my first day? Of course I know the damn code. Now let's-"

The door hinges squeaked as Danneel pulled it open but they all froze at the muffled sound coming from further down the hallway.

"What the fuck was that?" Jared whispered, adjusting his grip on his gun. "I thought you said it was clear?"

"It was clear," Danneel hissed back, her own gun in her hands. There was another rustle, coming from what looked like a closet, and Danneel looked to Mark. "You checked the cloakroom, didn't you?"

"Yes, I checked the fucking cloakroom," Mark muttered. "It's probably just a cat or something. I'm on it."

Jared and Danneel exchanged looks as he stalked away. She and Gen quickly disappeared down the stairs into the storage room while Jared headed back out into the hallway as backup for Mark. He could count on one hand the number of times Mark had missed something during a sweep -- the guy was ex-military and impressively efficient -- but 'better safe than sorry' was a necessity on jobs like this, especially with Stuart on their asses.

He exhaled in relief when nothing jumped out at them as Mark pulled the door open, and Mark stepped back with a shrug. "See? Could've just been someone's scarf falling down. Let's go."

"Wait." Working on suspicion rather than evidence, Jared pulled his flashlight from his belt and crouched down to shine the light to the back of the stuffed cloakroom. "Looks like you're losing your touch, man."

"Losing my-" Mark's lips thinned as he tossed the coats aside to find a guy cowering in the back corner of the cloakroom. "Son of a bitch!"

Reaching down, he hauled the guy up by the front of his shirt and dragged him out of the cloakroom. Judging by his uniform, the guy was a waiter and probably no real threat but Jared started in surprise when Mark smacked him hard across the face to send him tumbling to the floor.

The waiter cried out, curling in on himself with a muffled plea as Mark advanced, apparently still furious that he'd been duped. "You thought you could hide from me, asshole? Huh?" He landed a vicious kick to the guy's stomach which had him doubled up and coughing. "If I say get in the main room, I expect people to do it."

"Hey!" Jared said, pulling Mark back as he went to land another kick. "That's enough!"

Mark tugged against the hold Jared had on his arm but didn't put up any more of a fight. "Goddamn punk needs to be taught a lesson."

Jared raised his eyebrows. "You're kidding, right? He's fucking terrified -- he doesn't need you beating up on him to scare him into line. Now get your shit together and go keep watch around the back. Got it?"

Mark didn't take his eyes off the waiter and Jared gave him a firm shake. "I said, you got it?"

"I got it," he muttered. Pulling away from Jared, he stalked past the waiter, sneering when he recoiled, and moved towards the back entrance to the gallery.

Slipping his flashlight back into its holder, Jared crouched down beside the waiter to check out his injuries. His lip was bleeding from the punch but from the way his breathing grew shallow as Jared leaned in, the main problem seemed to just be fear.

"Sorry about that," Jared said, being careful to keep his gun pointed away from the waiter. "He's not real happy about being shown up by anybody. You okay?"

The waiter's eyes were huge and green as he looked from Jared's gun to his face and gave a tiny nod.

"Well, that's a good start," Jared said with a smile. It didn't have quite the same soothing effect when his face was covered by a mask but he guessed it was better than a gun. "You got a name?"

"J-Jensen. Please," he begged, apparently finding his voice, "please don't kill me."

"Hey, calm down," Jared said, resting a hand on his shoulder as his breathing became more shallow. "No-one's gonna kill you, Jensen. Take a deep breath for me."

Jensen did, breathing in and out slowly, but it didn't seem to have much effect when he backed up against the nearest wall once Jared helped him to his feet. He seemed to be somewhere close to Jared's age and, when standing, was closer to Jared's height than he'd anticipated, but from the way he flinched back when he approached, Jared doubted he'd get any kind of fight.

"Okay, Jensen, I want you to put your hands on your head for me," Jared said, keeping his voice low and gentle. Jensen did as instructed, his hands shaking the whole time as though Jared was just going to shoot him right there, and Jared gave him an encouraging nod. "Good. That's good. Now, walk back through to the main room with the rest of them and stay up against the wall. Okay?"

Jensen nodded. He turned to walk back down the hallway but jumped when Danneel came running up the stairs, directly into his path.

"What the-"

Her gun was out and trained on Jensen's head in an instant and Jared jogged forward before she could ask any questions (or before Jensen had a heart attack. They were equally likely outcomes as far as Jared was concerned.) 

"Whoa, slow down. He's one of the waiters from the party." He glanced over his shoulder at Jensen. "You are one of the waiters, right? You didn't just dress like that for kicks?"

Jensen nodded, his face pale at the presence of even more guns. "I'm a waiter."

"What the hell's he doing here?" Danneel asked, her worry coming through as anger. "Did Tango miss something? I knew I should've checked that cloakroom myself." She looked between him and Jensen as more questions presented themselves. "What has he heard?" She stepped closer, gun raised as she addressed Jensen, "What did you hear?"

"I- I didn't-"

"Ease up," Jared said firmly. "There's been nothing for him to hear. We'll just send him through with the rest and be on our way."

"Yeah, not so much," Mark called, running down the hallway. "The goddamn cops are coming."

"Shit." Running a hand over his face, Jared went through the details of plan B in his head as he murmured, "That was fast."

"Your boy here probably tipped them off," Mark said, pushing past Jared to move in on Jensen. "Did you call 911 when you were hiding away like a scared little mouse?"

"N-no," Jensen said, holding his hands up as Mark shoved him back against the wall. "Please, I swear, I didn't call anyone."

Mark's eyes narrowed as he put his gun up under Jensen's chin. "Now why don't I believe you?" He clicked the safety off but Jensen's terrified sob was drowned out when he spoke again, "I should just save us all the trouble and put a bullet in you now."

"Tango," Jared snapped, barely remembering Mark's codename. "Get the hell off him. We would've heard if he'd called anyone."

Mark hesitated for a moment but to Jared's relief, he put the safety back on as he stepped back. "Come on then, November. What's the escape plan?"

"We got the jewelry?" Jared asked.

Danneel nodded, gesturing to the pouch on her back. "All loaded up and ready to go. The cover's in place -- Juliet's all set."

Jared almost felt bad for Gen -- being undercover wasn't the easiest gig and getting handcuffed and elbowed in the face as part of a cover story sucked extra hard. They'd all been there, however, and he remained confident that it would be worth it in the long run.

Sirens blared outside, getting closer with every passing second, and Jared made his call. "Go with the Boomerang. Get to the van and get gone - I'll take lead."

"The Boomerang?" Danneel blinked. "With forty hostages?"

"I'll downsize." Guilt flared up as he looked over to Jensen and gave him a weak smile. "I only need one."

 

****

+++

For a daring escape from under the noses of the cops, the first half went surprisingly smoothly. Danneel and Mark made it out to the van and with police attention still focused firmly on Jared and the gallery, he figured it was safe to assume they got away clean. 

With Jared playing the part of the menacing kidnapper, the rest of the hostages were sent out to safety, Misha and Osric disguised among them, and Jared had watched with amusement as a handcuffed and faux-traumatized Gen had stumbled into the arms of the most attractive cop out there. (There was no denying that she had skills.)

It took a good thirty minutes but Jared was finally left on his own with an empty gallery and an empty vault, and nothing but some canapes and one skittish hostage to help him pass the time.

Watching from behind the privacy screens as the last of the guests were shepherded away by the cops, Jared looked back to where Jensen was curled up in the corner, his bound wrists looped around his legs. "How you feeling?"

Jensen didn't look up at him as he asked, barely louder than a whisper, "Is scared a valid answer?"

Jared smiled as he sank down to a seat next to him. "Totally valid." He gave him a small nudge with his elbow. "I'm sorry to do this to you, Jensen. I really am. I know it's gotta be hell but I just need you to hang on in there a little longer for me."

Jensen's face was ashen when he lifted his head and if it hadn't been completely inappropriate, Jared would've given him a hug. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Nothing," Jared said. "We're both going to walk out of here alive and in one piece. We just need to wait a while first." 

"For what?"

The noise of a ringing phone cut through the gallery before Jared could answer. Holding up one finger to Jensen, he made sure he stayed out of range of the snipers as he moved across the room to answer the phone. "Velma's Escort Services, how may I direct your call?"

"Vel-" He heard a flustered sigh on the other end of the line. "This is Lieutenant Morgan."

Jared beamed. "Jeff! How was the vacation? I hear Cabo's great this time of year."

There was a suspicious pause before Morgan asked, resigned, "November?"

"The one and only," Jared said cheerfully. "Well, not the _only_ one, I guess. The month was probably here first."

"November-"

"So what can I do for you, officer?" Jared pressed on, ignoring the interruption. He'd dealt with Morgan on more than one occasion and while he seemed like a decent guy and a capable cop, there was something very satisfying about eluding him repeatedly. "Do you need my help with a case? Was it the butler in the pantry with the candlestick?"

"I don't need your help," Morgan said. "I do need you to release that hostage and surrender peacefully."

He sounded so earnest. It was almost sweet.

"Sorry, man," Jared said with a sigh. "I don't think that's going to happen yet."

"Yet?"

"Maybe in another thirty minutes or so," Jared said. "Say, could you order us some pizza? I could go for a meat feast."

"Pizz- I'm not ordering you pizza!"

"Really?" He tutted. "I thought you were in charge of negotiating. This doesn't feel much like a negotiation to me. You should offer to get me some Chinese takeout or something instead. Oh, or Mexican! I could go for Mexican." Putting his hand over the receiver, he called to Jensen, "Hey, Jensen, you want any tacos?"

Morgan's disbelief came through loud and clear. "You're feeding your hostage?"

"Of course I'm feeding my hostage." He flashed Jensen a smile. "I mean, I'm not a total dick."

"Is he injured?" Morgan asked. "Does he need any medical attention?"

Jared sighed. "How about we make a deal? You get me one meat feast pizza and one plain cheese, and I put the hostage on the phone to talk to you. That sound fair?"

"I-" Morgan paused. "But what about your demands?"

Jared blinked. "My demands?"

"Yeah. Your demands. What we need to give you before you let the hostage go." Morgan sounded remarkably depressed at having to explain the concept.

"Uh, pizza," Jared said. He'd already got the jewelry he wanted -- it was hard coming up with other demands on the spot. "I think I made myself clear, officer."

"It's detective," Morgan said through gritted teeth. "And you're seriously telling me you broke into a jewelry store and took a hostage just to score some free pizza?"

"Hey, we all have our hobbies," Jared said with a grin. "Now, are you going to get me my pizza or not?"

He heard Morgan sigh but he sounded surprisingly composed when he asked, "Just the two pizzas? I got a load of witnesses out here saying you had at least two other guys with you. What happened to them?"

"Dead," Jared blurted out. He soon reconsidered. "Escaped. Taking a nap. Pick your favorite. Now, do we have a deal?"

He could hear the exasperation in Morgan's voice when he replied, "Yes. Yes, we have a deal. I'll get you your damn pizzas. Now put Jensen on the line."

Smiling, Jared carried the phone around to Jensen and pressed it into his bound hands. "It's for you."

Jensen frowned as he held it to his ear with a tentative greeting but Jared relaxed against the wall next to him when he heard the flurry of questions from Morgan's side. He listened patiently as Jensen assured him that yes, he was okay and no, Jared wasn't forcing him to say that, but he took the phone back quickly when the questions strayed to the subject of Jared's team and his plans for escape.

"Okay," he said cheerfully, "question time with Jensen is over. Go get me my pizzas and maybe we can chat some more. You can tell me all about your hobbies and your lifelong dreams."

He hung up before Morgan could answer. When he looked over, Jensen was staring at him with a bemused smile on his lips and Jared grinned at the sight of an expression other than sheer terror on his face. "I didn't know what pizza you liked," he said with a shrug.

Jensen ducked his head. "Cheese is good," he said quietly. "I-"

He closed his mouth before finishing the sentence and Jared crossed his legs as he shifted around to face him. "What?" he asked. "You can ask me whatever you want, I'm not gonna get mad."

"Why did you order pizza?" Jensen asked tentatively. "I don't understand."

"Everything will become clear," Jared said, wiggling his fingers in a vaguely mystical fashion. "It's a solid plan, I promise."

"What if the cops bust in?" Jensen asked. "What if they shoot us?"

He curled his fingers up as much as his bonds would allow, which Jared guessed was to hide how much his hands were still shaking. 

Reaching out, Jared wrapped his hands around Jensen's and gave a quick squeeze as he said, "They're not going to shoot us. They're definitely not going to shoot you, because you're a hostage-" He tapped the ziptie around Jensen's wrists. "-and they're not going to shoot me because Morgan's too curious to let me go down in a hail of bullets. Besides," he said, looking out at the flash of police lights in the darkness, "we've got history. He knows I'm not gonna hurt you."

"So what now?" Jensen asked, still looking uncertain.

"We wait," Jared said, stretching his legs out and scratching his nose. The mask got itchy after a while. "And we make conversation. For example: is this waiter gig your day job or strictly an after-hours thing?"

Jensen did a double take but answered nonetheless, "Uh, after hours. I work retail during the day then wait at events some evenings."

"Sounds busy," Jared said honestly. He could barely manage one mostly-illegal job, let alone two legit ones. "What kind of retail?"

Jensen's cheeks went pink when he said, "Cupcakes."

If Jared was honest, it was one of the most endearing things he'd ever seen.

Slipping out of the criminal mindset a little, he looked at Jensen afresh. His cheeks were still flushed with embarrassment at admitting to a shady thief that he sold cupcakes all day but Jared found himself appreciating just how attractive Jensen was now that he wasn't cowering in fear.

Jared didn't really need another reason to want to ensure Jensen's safety but his increased prettyness was a definite bonus.

"Cupcakes, huh? That's pretty much the best career I've ever heard of."

Jensen laughed, relaxing even more in spite of himself. "That's the first time I've heard it called that." He looked down at his hands as he said quietly, "But yeah, I like it. It's simple."

"Simple?"

Jensen's tongue darted out to wet his lips. "I used to work in a bank. This is less stressful -- people are usually way more easygoing about their cupcakes than they are about their money." He risked a glance up at Jared as he asked, "How about you? Why do you do this?"

"Well, the hostage-taking isn't part of my usual repertoire," Jared said, watching the lights flash blue and red outside. "But I've been stealing stuff for years now." His history of thievery was a long and complicated story and so he simplified it as much as he could. "I only steal from rich assholes though. I have some principles."

Jensen's attempt to hide his skeptical smile was not very successful. "So you're like Robin Hood?"

"Basically." He frowned. "But not the Kevin Costner one. Maybe the weirdly hot animated fox version."

Jensen laughed again. Despite Jared's better judgment, he found himself hoping that the stand-off went on for a couple of hours yet. He liked being able to make Jensen smile.

Jensen shook his head as he shifted position, flexing his fingers, and Jared asked with a grin, "What?"

"Nothing," he said shyly. "I just- You're not what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?" Jared asked. "If it was something like what happened with my colleague before, I'm really sorry about that. I didn't want anyone to get hurt." He gave him a small smile. "I'll be having strong words with him later."

"It's not that. I-" Jensen swallowed and Jared stayed quiet to let him speak. "When I worked at the bank, we had a robbery there too. I guess I just have really shitty luck with these things, but the guys who did that- They weren't like you."

Jared could guess the answer but couldn't stop himself from asking, "What happened?"

Jensen's feigned casualness came out strained. "They couldn't get what they wanted from the vault and took it out on me. They-" Jared watched a tremor go through his hands. "I was in a coma for four days."

Guilt hit him like a fist to the face. That explained why Jensen had been so scared, he guessed, and why he'd hidden in the first place he could find, but he couldn't keep from feeling like shit for his terrible choice in hostage.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," he said softly. "I guess you really didn't need my team busting in here tonight."

Jensen's smile was weak. "It's not exactly how I hoped the evening would go."

"It'll be over soon," Jared promised. "Another hour and I'll be out of your hair and Lieutenant Morgan will be your personal bodyguard."

Jensen nodded mutely and Jared squeezed his hands again. "It'll be fine. I promise."

They both jumped at the trill of the phone ringing and Jared flashed him a quick smile. "Speak of the devil."

Scooping up the phone, Jared put on his best southern drawl, "Ricky-Lee's house of pies, how can I help you?"

"One day I'm going to shoot you," Morgan said tersely, "and I'm going to enjoy it."

Jared grinned. "Your professionalism is much appreciated, detective." Glancing back down the hallway, he checked the flash of squad car lights at the back of the building before asking, "Did you get my pizzas yet?"

"We did," Morgan said, sounding pained. "One meat feast, one cheese. We're just waiting for you to come outside to get them."

"Does that ever work?" he asked in disbelief. "Really?"

He didn't know whether to take Morgan's avoidance of the question as an affirmative or a negative. "All right, fine. How do you propose we get them to you?"

"I think you should deliver them," Jared decided. "It'll be nice to get some face time again."

"And what, I'm supposed to come unarmed?"

"Hell, no," he said. "Bring as many guns as you like. Just bring the pizza too."

He hung up before Morgan could protest and turned to Jensen. "Okay, this is it. You'll be home safe in a few minutes but I need you to do something for me first."

Jensen looked up at him with trepidation. "What is it?"

Jared came up blank on nice ways to phrase 'be a human shield'. "I just need you to stand here when Morgan comes in. I'll be holding onto you and I'll have a gun." He reached down to help him up before resting his hands on his shoulders. "I know you have no reason to trust me, especially after what happened to you before, but I swear, I'm not going to let you get hurt. Okay?"

Swallowing hard, Jensen gave him a tiny nod. 

Jared gave him a broad smile in return. "Thank you."

The door rattled as Morgan approached and Jared spun Jensen around quickly, dropping the phone to the floor as he hooked his arm loosely around Jensen's neck. He held his gun to his ribs and kept Jensen positioned squarely in front of him as Morgan came in through the front of the gallery, two pizza boxes in one hand and a gun in the other.

"Great to see you again, Jeff," Jared said, as amicably as he could manage. "Is the beard new? It looks new."

Morgan glowered at him. "Put the gun down, November."

"Pizzas first," Jared said firmly. "I'm not about to let you shoot me _and_ take away my free food. That's not okay."

Rolling his eyes, Morgan dropped the pizzas to the ground and Jared backed up, pulling Jensen with him as Morgan advanced. "That's great. You can just leave them there and head back out."

Morgan smirked. "That's not happening. Now put the weapon down and let him go, and maybe the DA will let you plead this out."

"And I thought you had integrity," Jared said with a sad sigh. "I feel so betrayed."

He backed up further down the hallway, keeping Jensen close as Morgan got nearer and nearer. Jensen was tense against him, hands curled around the arm against his throat, and Jared stroked his thumb over the back of his neck in the most subtle gesture of reassurance he could manage.

"Fine," he said, coming to a stop and lowering the gun from Jensen's ribs. "You want him? Then take him."

Before either of them knew what was happening, Jared shoved Jensen forward, sending him stumbling into Morgan's arms. Forced to let Jensen hit the ground or lower the gun, Morgan thankfully chose the least painful option and Jared turned to run for the exit when he saw Morgan catch Jensen before he fell.

The back door wasn't far. Jared made it there before Morgan could even go for his gun and he pulled it open to go tearing out into the night. 

Straight into the arms of the police.

"Son of a-" 

Jared struggled, pulling hard against the hold as he was slammed down on the hood of a car and read his rights, but he couldn't get away while handcuffs clicked into place around his wrists.

"We got you now, fucker," one of the cops jeered from across the way, but Jared's attempts to lunge in his direction were thwarted when he was manhandled into the squad car by two officers. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw Morgan cutting Jensen loose and he managed to let loose a stream of curses in Morgan's direction before he was shoved into the back seat and locked in.

He saw Morgan smirk as the officers climbed in the front. As the car rolled forward, Jared tried his best to glare at him in response while also checking as best he could that Jensen was safely taken care of.

The squad car moved away before he could see much more and Jared leaned back with a sigh. "I could really go for some pizza right now."

Danneel looked over her shoulder from her position in the passenger seat. "Only if we can get pineapple."

Jared wrinkled his nose. "How is it that your taste in pizza is so bad when your taste in everything else is so good?"

"Screw you," she said without heat. "Pineapple is clearly the superior topping." Propping her knee up against the dash, she asked, "Everything go okay?"

"Peachy," Jared said, trying to keep his balance as Mark took a corner at speed. "Although I feel bad for picking the waiter as a hostage. He said he'd had some crappy luck with this stuff."

"Then he shouldn't have been hiding in the cloakroom, should he," Mark muttered and Jared kicked the back of his seat. 

"Quit being such a dick," he said. "He was a decent guy. I feel kinda guilty for scaring the shit out of him like that." He looked to Danneel. "You think I should check up on him? Make sure he's okay?"

"No."

"No way," Mark said.

"Absolutely not," Danneel reiterated. "You're not going to track down a hostage. What if he recognizes you?"

"I could be subtle!"

"Jared, you have never been subtle in your entire life," she said. "Now, we're going to hide this car before Morgan realizes what's happened, acquire a couple of extra large pizzas, and head home for the night with our hard-earned treasure." She turned around to look at him sternly. "You're going to forget about some random waiter and you're not going to put all our asses in danger because you have a crush."

"It's not a crush!"

Danneel raised an eyebrow and Jared slumped back in his seat in defeat. "Okay, fine. But I want pepperoni."

"We can do pepperoni," she said with a grateful smile and Jared tried not to scowl as he settled in the back seat of the stolen police car.

They wound their way through the streets and while Danneel and Mark bickered over the choice of radio station, Jared found himself wondering just how many cupcake stores there were in the city and just how long it would take to check them all.

Maybe it was sort of a crush.


End file.
